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This is the first map i ever managed to get through from start to finish. It is heavily based on Gidde's hand drawn maps for the artistically challenged. I finished this map quite awhile ago for a self made D&D campaign but never got around to posting it no nation lines are present as wiht the worlds lore they are constantly in flux from wars and appeasement between countries.
The main continent seen is that of Rentalos named for the numerous wars that divided a once unified land. Centuries of wars and deceit has led to strongly isolated nations each based around a major race. The continent to the west has long isolated itself from those in Rentalos having no contact except for a few costal cities where trade is allowed. The continent has banned any immigrants so as to reduce contact with those of a violent nature. To the south in the forests lie the elves isolated from all races except for the Dwarves in the nearby mountains who act as a buffer allowing none to pass into the lands of the elves. In the middle of the continent resides two separate human nations one to the west Taerdas based firmly in the devotion to the God Pelor. Those to the east Kemena venerate the god Erythnul leading them to be at high tensions as raids push them into the lands of Taer. Further up the the continent resides the land of the Orcs having pushed heavily upon the borders of the Kemen they now reside in the burning plains harassing the humans as often as possible. What lies beyond the lands of the orcs is unknown to those that live in Rentalos and from the they way the orcs pressure the Kemen the though brings fear to the bravest of souls.
Comments and critiques would be much appreciated
Thank you jimmydean

- Max -

07-15-2013, 08:47 PM

Hey Jimmy, welcome to the Guild!. The map has a pretty good landshape. Though There's many things to improve :
- About labels : One of the most important thing no a map is labeling. Here the big labels on mountains and those on forests are hardly legible.
- About brushes : putting brushes on a map doesn't make the map. You have to use them with care. the trees are way too big regarding mountains and towns icons. Those ones don't really fit the mountains/trees brushes and also looks blurry which doesn't help with consistency. The dots overalpping the whole map is also disturbing and not really pleasant to look at.
- About some issues : You have a lot of rivers issues that attract eyes and don't make the map very consistent. I'd suggest to check the tutorials section (for instance here (http://www.cartographersguild.com/tutorials-how/3822-how-get-your-rivers-right-place.html)) to get your rivers at the right place. They're also too blurry and don't fit the outlines of the brushes. The coastlines looks a bit too pixellated.

Hope that doesn't sound too harsh, the comments are help to point some things you might work on to improve your next works :) I'd also strongly recommend you to start some WIP in the WIp thread on your next maps to receive feedback, critics and advices, which is really helpful.

jimmydean

07-15-2013, 09:38 PM

Honestly that's less harsh than i had imagined. I agree with what your saying completely. I figured that i should post the map so that someone might point out some of those mistakes that i had yet to notice. I've tried fixing a few of those you mentioned but i have no version of the map that is in its separate layers.

arsheesh

07-15-2013, 10:33 PM

First off, welcome to the Guild Jimmy. Second, congrats on finishing your first map. As to constructive feedback, I had several of the same issues that -Max- did and a a couple others besides. However tree size was not one of them. Some people stress the importance of scale - trees should be significantly smaller than mountains - but in a pictorial symbol map such as this I think it is perfectly fine to be a bit more relaxed about scale. However, in addition to what Max has said, here are a few other things to consider:

The Border parchment texture is blurry and washed out in many places;
The Title does not stand out very well;
You have those little dashes (are they supposed to symbolize grass?) spilling over onto the sea in some places;
You have inconsistencies in line sharpness: some lines (e.g. those used for the hills, mountains and trees) are small and crisp, whereas others (e.g. those used for rivers and trade routes) are big and blurry.

That said, for a first map it's not bad. Like -Max- said the continent shape is nice. With a bit more practice you could be producing some nice maps.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Miranda Hartrampf

07-16-2013, 04:33 PM

well i dont think i can say more than what the guys have already said - so i think for a first map its a decent start, hey we all have to start somewhere! So i cant wait to see where your next project grows because you can only get better from here!

jimmydean

07-16-2013, 05:21 PM

Yeah i posted this in part because I had decided I wanted to do another map. I figured some constructive criticism would some good. I just now put up a WIP thread of the start, if you wouldn't mind id appreciate your opinions on what little I've done so far.
http://www.cartographersguild.com/regional-world-mapping/24021-wip-my-second-map.html

Eilathen

07-17-2013, 10:42 AM

I like the landforms a lot. Very inspiring.
You have some serious river issues but the other two guys have already covered a lot of ground on those problems. I hope you'll do some modifications on this one because it really has the potential to be a great map!

jimmydean

07-17-2013, 05:25 PM

I would love to do some modifications on it but as previously stated i cant find any version where its not merged and I think i'd have to go so far back to fix it that it would be like I'm doing the map all over again. If i manage to find a version that's not merged though i definitely will go back and fix those issues.